As you know, my One Small Change for March was to drive less.  Let’s just say that I failed.

Okay, fine.  So I didn’t fail.

I expected that simply giving up my horse lease as a recreational activity cut my gas usage by 3/4 automatically.  It actually ended up being pretty close to that: I used just under half as much gas in March as I did in February.  I also had my move to factor in, which definitely changed my driving patterns for a few weeks.

So why do I feel like I failed, or at least cheated?

No Pain, No Gain

I cheated.  I just changed what I was doing, I didn’t change how I was getting there.  Yes, it did make a big difference.  But it wasn’t hard or painful or irritating.  It didn’t take any great sacrifice on my part.  It didn’t require any research.

In fact, it made my life easier.  My new super fun thing, roller derby (yes, roller derby), happens to be right by the co-op, which used to be way out of my way.  It’s also on the way to the farmer’s market, which is back in season now.  So I’m eating better, and having to plan my grocery shopping less.

Roller derby is also cheaper than riding horses, without even factoring in the gas.  And I had a really inexpensive horse lease.  I’ve been able to get everything used except for my pads (safety first, people), and had a blast scouring thrift store racks for pieces of cute outfits.

And…shh… don’t tell anyone.  At least right now, roller derby is way more fun than riding horses.

Positive Change Doesn’t Have To Be Hard

I’m really torn on this one.  On the one hand, if changing one optional activity can make that big of a difference, isn’t that great?  I mean, nobody is going to say that using half as much gas is a bad thing.  Particularly since it’s not like I gave up recreation entirely.  I just changed what I was doing in a way that reduced my vehicular gas usage by over 50%.

I feel like this shouldn’t bother me.  I always tell people that positive change doesn’t have to be hard.  The whole concept behind my deliberate optimism is that we can make choices that are better for the planet and better for ourselves.  But this one really felt like it should be harder!  So I’m not stopping here.

Busses, Bikes and Skates

A car-reduced life has become more of an ongoing project than a one small change moment.  I’ve started to explore the bus routes.  Honestly, it doesn’t look so good.  Busses only run every 30 minutes, and I have to transfer lines to get to my primary walkable area.  It looks better if you add some sort of faster ground transportation – a bicycle or, I suppose, skates – to either end.  But it looks worse in bad weather, and gets harder at night, as the walkable destination lacks sidewalks and lighting.

I’ll keep you posted with updates on how this “second phase” of the project goes.  Right now, what is most striking is the need for conscientious civic planning that takes alternate forms of transportation into consideration.  We’re talking about deep walkability, which is sadly something that my current route lacks.

How does your community fare as far as public transportation?  What gives your community deep walkability or what is it still missing?

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Because March 1st was the wrap-up of the 28 Day Real Food Challenge, I neglected to post about my One Small Change for March.  But first, a quick update on my January and February changes.

January – Goodbye, Dishwasher

This was going really well until my sink broke.  You know what’s hard to do with a broken sink?  Wash dishes.  I figured that washing dishes in the bathroom sink or bathtub would most likely defeat the purpose, so I’m back to using my dishwasher.  However, my water bill reflected a fairly substantial decrease in water usage, so that’s a good thing.

February – 28 Day Real Food Challenge

I haven’t yet found a way to articulate how this challenge impacted my life.  In short, this experience was simply phenomenal, and I am so glad that I participated.  Not only was it beneficial from the standpoint of environmental impact, but I never anticipated the overwhelmingly positive effect it would have on my health.  That is a topic for another time, but I will certainly be continuing with this “small” change in some capacity.

And for March…

I’m giving up horses.  This probably seems like an odd one, so let me explain.

For the past six months, I have shared a lease of several horses who live in a pasture 20 miles away from my house.  It was a self-care lease, which meant that I had to drive to the pasture on a daily basis to feed them, even on days I wasn’t planning on riding.  As is the case in many rural areas, public transportation was not an option.

The fact of the matter is that I can cut my gas usage by almost 3/4 just by giving up the horses.  At this point, I honestly can’t justify driving that much for a recreational activity, when there are other perfectly reasonable alternative activities or the possibility of finding a horse lease within biking distance.

Which brings me to the real change for March.  Beginning now, I will be closely examining the radius of my daily life and will start factoring transportation impact into my choices in a much bigger way than ever before.  This will be the first step in laying the foundation for what I hope will be an increasingly car-free life.

To be honest, I’m not sure how this one is going to go.  I’ll definitely keep you posted.

Related Posts:

• Why I Failed At Driving Less

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